This was an exhibition that challenged my perceptions of what stained glass is all about. I hadn't been to Newport Street Gallery for a while and was intrigued that such a cutting-edge gallery would be exhibiting glass, essentially considered a craft medium. Brian Clarke takes the art of glass to new heights however, as I was to discover. I felt a certain kinship artistically as Clarke takes inspiration from nature with dragonflies and floral motifs featuring heavily in the work. I particularly admired a wall of his textured collage studies in the first room which were strongly reminiscent of both the works of 18th century artist Mary Delaney, and modernist Henri Matisse's late collaged paper works. I admired the way in Clarke incorporated the usually discarded negative space off-cuts as integral parts of the finished collages. The confidence in the execution on the monumental scale of these works was testament to a master craftsman. What is interesting is that many of these works weren't leaded as is normally the case with traditional stained glass pieces. Ardath - the first piece in the exhibition (opposite the collages) is a monumental 42 metres square and evokes an experience which makes the viewer feel as if they are surrounded by nature. In the next gallery are panels of very gothic skulls photographically reproduced and set in glass which would appeal to Newport Gallery owner Damien Hirst's aesthetic. I was particularly interested in the works contained in the first gallery room upstairs as they were created by the Benday dot technique which is the same process used in the printing of the spotty papers for some of my collages. These photographic works are presented on a large scale and created by splicing together 3 sheets of glass with transparent glass backgrounds giving a strange effect most similar to the Pointillist paintings of Georges Seurat. Strangely the pictures of men in swimming trunks are called Caryatids which is usually the name given to sculpted female figures, (the male version are usually called Telamun). No clues are given as to why Clarke chose to name this series thus. Perhaps it is because of the homoerotic imagery. The last rooms of the exhibition were filled with the most beautifully textured panelled screens full of colour, texture and pattern, some of which again, are reminiscent of some of my own newest works based on camouflage that I am currently working on. The luminosity and semi-transparent nature of the glass and the colours used by Clarke in these pieces creates a jewel-like effect making them glow and dazzle. This exhibition was one of the strongest that I have seen recently and hopefully there will be time for a return visit before it closes at the end of the year.
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